Withers mounts quixotic challenge to Kildee

FLINT — For 34 years, Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Flint) has not seen a primary challenge for the 5th Congressional District seat in the U.S. House. That changed on May 11, 2010, when former television personality and executive Scott Withers formally filed paperwork as a candidate for the Democratic nomination.

Withers, 37, is a high energy, balding man. Michigan Messenger caught up with him Sunday in Flint at a fundraiser featuring comedian Judy Tenuta.

To give you an idea of how much institutional weight his opponent has behind him, Withers said that on May 12, the day after he filed to run, he received a call from Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer.

“On Wednesday, Mark Brewer called me and immediately asked me to drop out,” Withers said. “I had never met him before and he said, ‘You need to drop out, we need to protect this seat for our incumbent Congressman.’”

Brewer spokesman John Tramontana declined to comment on the call.

The 5th district includes rural Tuscola county, Genesee County (including Flint), Saginaw and Bay City, making it a truly diverse district with economic issues from rural agricultural to Flint’s auto industry.

Kildee, according to the Center for Responsive Politics’ Open Secrets website, raised just over $300,000 this cycle, and has $734,109 on hand rolling into the August primary. Of that $300,000 raised, the website notes, 54 percent came from Political Action Committees, 40 percent in individual donations, and another four percent in the “other” category.

Withers, on the other hand, raised just under $9,000. Of that money, 60 percent came from individuals, 27 percent from Political Action Committees, and 13 percent from Withers’ own pocket. He had $1,280 on hand as of campaign report filings March 31, 2010.

Withers acknowledges the struggle against Kildee is a David v. Goliath scenario, but he also notes the clear differences between the two candidates. First on that list: Withers is pro-choice.

“This will be the first time in some people’s lives where they have had the choice to vote for a pro-choice candidate in this district,” Withers said.

Withers is the first out gay man in Michigan to seek a Congressional seat. If he wins, he would join Barney Frank (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Jared Polis (D-CO) as openly gay legislators in Washington. Withers said he was hoping for strong support from the LGBT community in the primary.

Once in office, he said, he hoped to push the Obama administration to take stronger action on a range of issues that impact LGBT people, including repealing the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and advocating for a more forceful reaction to Uganda’s proposed anti-gay law that would result in many homosexuals being put to death.

But don’t expect his sexuality to be the core issue on the campaign trail. Withers says he is focused on jobs for the district and addressing the economic crisis Michigan continues to suffer through. During a wide-ranging interview Sunday, Withers talked about the need for a nationwide foreclosure moratorium, program incentives to allow city and township employees to purchase homes with low down payment costs and loans, foreclosed properties, and the need to diversify Michigan’s economy.

“It’s gone, and it’s not coming back,” Withers said of the auto industry. “Michigan needs to not only be putting up wind turbines, but we need to be building them too. We have to think outside the box.”

And that kind of thinking is exactly what has motivated him to run for Congress, he said. He noted that he supports term limits for Congress — saying if “eight years is good enough for President, why not for Congress?” Withers said such a move would foster innovation, new thinking and that proverbial “outside the box” set of solutions.

The winner of the August primary will go on to face the winner of the Republican primary in the November general election. The GOP primary features former auto executive Rick Wilson squaring off with John Kupiec. Kupiec has not filed any campaign reports as of yet, while Wilson’s shows he has raised $18,888. Of that, $1,379 came from individual donors, the rest was donated by him. He had $5,787 on hand as of March 31, 2010.